D-46 board gives superintendent 3 more years

CRYSTAL LAKE – District 46 school board members approved a new performance-based contract with the district’s superintendent.

Lynette Zimmer’s three-year agreement was approved the same day the board inked a deal with its teachers union.

Zimmer will receive a 1 percent raise. She pointed out her salary increase is less than what was offered to the Prairie Grove Teachers’ Association, which went on strike last month when negotiations stalled.

“I’m getting a 1 percent raise for the school year; the teachers are getting 1.8 percent,” Zimmer said Tuesday after a school board meeting.

The teachers union contract ties salaries and benefits to a two-year blend of the Consumer Price Index, with a cap at 3.5 percent. Under the formula, the union’s 74 members will receive a 1.89 percent raise for the 2012-13 school year.

The agreement offered teachers – who were working under an expired contract since August 2011 – retroactive pay. The contract expires in 2015.

The teachers’ contract does away with previous annual salary increases for each year of experience, called “steps.”

Zimmer’s contract began July 1 and will run through June 30, 2015. She will make $149,955 in the 2012-13 school year, and will be eligible for an annual salary adjustment if she meets goals outlined in her agreement.

Her performance-based contract stipulates that she focus on student performance and academic goals established by the school board. Goals include developing a five-year facilities plan, examining possible debt-restructuring options and reviewing curriculum and instructional services.

District 46 serves nearly 1,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.